Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Kilgannon.
Hi Corey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I have been a “professional” songwriter and musician for almost 10 years. And have always struggled to find a healthy path in that industry. Covid completely shut down touring, and I became confused about what I should do to give back to the world and make a living. Earlier this year, I began to have solid episodes of anxiety, and I have dealt with depression for well, perhaps as long as I’ve been trying to force my music into bars and spotlights. Tibetan Bowls came into my life from a few different avenues, including a full moon drum circle, a psychic in Cassadaga, and perhaps most importantly, Gopali Imports in St. Petersburg (where I trained and got certified to perform sound bowl therapy). They quickly began to bring my awareness of how I was not living in a way that brought peace and harmony to my body and continued to create a sonic space in which profound insights were available. I was facedown on the table at Jasmine Advanced Bodywork, getting a massage from our owner Chad when I got hired as the vibrational therapist. The Bodywork and healing abilities of our staff (Chad, his wife Sheila, Mark, and Amy) have helped me release a ton of chronic pain and grow as a human. I’m still on a healing journey, a never-ending upward spiral, and I am very grateful to have learned the skill (and had the life experience) to help others on their path. I began my musical endeavors as a worship leader in Christian churches and remained fascinated by the spiritual side of music. Tibetan bowls have ancient connections to Buddhism and Chakra healing but have also been scientifically proven to have incredible healing benefits. Essentially, the waveforms help your brain shift into deeply relaxed states (ideally Delta waves indicative of sleep and healing), which allows your body’s natural healing processes to kick into gear (or should I say relax into gear?). There is a long list of potential ailments they can help with. I am drawn to working with people who suffer from depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, religious trauma syndrome, tinnitus, cancer, and unstable moods.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a bumpy ride, for sure; I have spent the last decade in constant search of wellness; I’ve undergone all kinds of different modalities of therapy, from psychedelics to hypnotherapy. I tried endurance running. I drove around the country looking for places to sing and crowds that would make me feel loved. It’s cliche (as so many truths are), but you have to learn to love yourself (in stillness) before you can be ok, and I have resisted that for a long time. Pursuing sobriety has also been the most difficult and rewarding endeavor of my life thus far. My ex was studying to be a therapist, and we would laugh about how many people who want to work in that sort of field are deeply wounded themselves. The wounds are where the medicine flows from when you take time to acknowledge them and heal. I think of everything as vibration, and we are essentially water. Our actions ripple for a long time. We are also affected heavily by the actions of others. Learning to meditate and using sound healing helps calm the psyche so new vibrations can be generated from your soul, hopefully, positive ones. I still have ripples catching up to me, though. We all do. The struggles are what make the stories so beautiful.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a songwriter and, most recently, a sound healer. Music has always been how I soothed and healed myself, and I am most proud of how it has reverberated to do that for others. I had some amazing opportunities to tour, and my music has circulated the globe on Spotify, collecting almost 70 million total plays. There have been a handful of neat accolades. I’ve shared the stage with many of my heroes and had small but passionate crowds come to hear me play all over the country. I am most proud of the many messages I’ve received, acknowledging how songs I’ve written helped people navigate tough times. I’ve sought to be honest with myself and others about my experience. There is always some lingering desire to perform and be recognized, but I think the path I’m on now is one of deep contentment, and that sets me apart a little. I only want my music to grow as much as it’s meant to, and I’m certain I would hate being famous. I kind of dream of just doing private concerts or tiny groups where the music can be more interactive and less of a traditional show; I love working at Jasmine Advance Bodywork and plan to be here as long as they will have me. There is an iconic listening room upstairs (blue jay), so perhaps I will get the performance bug again someday and head up there for a few tunes.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My biggest advice would be to look for the lessons to come from people you don’t necessarily expect to have them. It’s nice and necessary to have someone older and wiser than us encourage our journey and help us separate the useful parts of ourselves from the parts we perhaps need to let go of. It can be a clearer mirror into our soul, however, to question the things that repel us, the people we find annoying or worse. When we are overly reliant on an outside source, a mentor, or a network of friends, to fill in the gaps in ourselves, we can end up being needy and draining energy from people (I am guilty of this big time!). The journey I’m on is learning to trust my intuition and fill up my emptiness with deep self-love and acceptance. When you start from there, teachers arrive who will guide you deeper into your journey, but they can not save you.
Pricing:
- $72 for 1/2 hour
- Couples sessions are also available
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.jasmineadvancedbodywork.com
- Instagram: @Corey_Kilgannon
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0XuYkyliNor6szd1B6oBKk?si=l5yaD2tMTXOMzY5G45Nuxg
Image Credits
Jake Fairbanks @moonagemultimedia
